Nolan Wells' Friends Waited HOW LONG To Call For Help?

Nolan Wells' Friends Waited HOW LONG To Call For Help?

Published: July 25, 2026

Duration: 46:56

Nolan Wells was last seen on Horn Island on the Fourth of July. Help wasn't requested for roughly thirteen hours. 
Nolan was eighteen, a wide receiver at Southwest Mississippi Community College, out on the island with friends from Ocean Springs. Horn Island sits about ten miles off the Mississippi coast, uninhabited, no buildings, no fresh water, no service. On the holiday it's packed with boats until dark, and then every one of those boats turns back toward the mainland. His friends made it home. He didn't. 
A National Park Service ranger found his body in the water of...